A NATION CHALLENGED: DOMESTIC DEFENSE

By JAMES DAO

Published: February 6, 2002

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5—
The Pentagon is preparing to send to President Bush a recommendation calling for the creation of a new command to coordinate the military's response to terrorist attacks within the nation's borders, senior military officials said today.

The new office, which would be known as the Northern Command, would place a four-star general in charge of all military personnel involved in flying air patrols over American cities, guarding the coasts and responding to major terrorist attacks, the officials said.

Describing the outlines of the new command before the Senate Armed Services Committee, General Richard B. Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said today that the Northern Command would assume control of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which oversees defense of the skies over the United States and Canada from Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado.

''We have started our discussions with our Canadian partners in this, and they understand that and are fine with it,'' General Myers said.

The new command, which would be based somewhere on the East Coast not far from Washington, would also take responsibility for coordinating the military's response to natural disasters like floods, hurricanes and forest fires, General Myers said. That task is now handled by the Army.

And the Northern commander would oversee a military unit known as the Joint Task Force Civil Support, which is trained to respond to attacks involving chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, General Myers said.

The Joint Forces Command, based in Norfolk, Va., now supervises the task force.

Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld suggested after the hearing that the Northern Command would also coordinate naval and Coast Guard security patrols along the coasts, a mission also now handled by the Joint Forces Command.

Though President Bush has yet to be briefed on the Pentagon's plan, Vice President Dick Cheney has already endorsed the concept, saying recently that a new Northern Command would improve planning for domestic security and speed responses to attacks.

Thomas E. White, the secretary of the Army who helped devise the Pentagon plan, said in a recent interview that the Sept. 11 attacks on New York City and the Pentagon underscored the lack of coordination among the many parts of the military that are expected to respond to terrorist attacks.

''There was no unity of command in the traditional sense that, if we were in Afghanistan, we would have had Central Command in charge,'' he said. ''The intent of this plan would be that we'd treat North America like every other piece of ground in the world, and that is, we have unity of command for ground, air and naval forces.''

Mr. White said the Northern Command might also have responsibility for military personnel involved in fighting the drug war in the Caribbean and other regions.

The proposal for a new command has received bipartisan support in Congress, including that of senior members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, which are expected to review the plan.

But the proposal is opposed by civil liberties groups which contend that soldiers trained in combat are more likely to hurt civilians or violate their civil rights than are police officers or other civil authorities.

''We have very serious concerns about the military being involved in domestic security,'' said Timothy H. Edgar, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union. ''The military is not trained to follow, and its mission is not to respect, constitutional liberties. Their mission is to use overwhelming force to defeat and kill the enemy.''

Mr. Edgar said the military could play an appropriate role in responding to devastating attacks involving weapons of mass destruction that would overwhelm local civil authorities.

There has been some discussion among Republican lawmakers about softening restrictions in the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which prohibits the armed forces from engaging in police activities inside the United States without authorization from Congress or the president.

But Mr. Rumsfeld said today that the administration did not plan to amend the act ''at the moment.''

Many details about the new Northern Command remain to be worked out, Mr. White and other Pentagon officials said.

For example, it was not clear today whether the new commander would have troops and ships permanently under his control, or would have to request those forces from other commanders during emergencies.

It was also not clear whether Canada and Mexico would fall under the Northern Command's area of responsibility.

Mr. White said precisely which civilian authorities the new Northern Commander would report to have yet to be worked out.